Boris Achour's Modest Assemblages at Frac Champagne-Ardenne

From September 11 to November 1, 2009, Frac Champagne-Ardenne in Reims presented an exhibition of works by French artist Boris Achour. The show featured precarious mobiles hanging from the ceiling on the ground floor and a field of bricolaged flowers and corals upstairs. Achour draws inspiration from the mystic poet Angelus Silesius's line "The rose is without why" and Spinoza's concept of conatus, which he equates with vital impulse or desire. His sculptures use humble materials like wood, cardboard, plexiglass, mirror, chains, and fluorescent tubes, often salvaged from studio waste. The artist cites Robert Filliou's principle of equivalence: "Well made, badly made, not made." Critic Catherine Francblin notes that Achour's work critiques the artist's will to power and the spectacular nature of art, emphasizing instead experimentation and indifference to audience expectations.